The Root of Darkness

by Amorphis760

I was nothing special before I died the first time but when something offers me the chance to live again I take it. Reborn into a world of death I will survive. There will be no mercy and no pity. For there are monsters that roam this world and to survive I might have to become one myself. Elements of the Gamer and X-overs in later chapters.

16. Kyuubi Fallout

~Interlude~ Minato

The burning inferno that had been stirring inside me cooled slightly as I caught Shiro before he could fall. Already I could feel Kushina's chakra stabilizing and the medic that gave me a nod after he checked on her reassured me even further. Shiro was gently taken out of my arm and laid down on the cot that I had been sitting on. Taken out of context the scene of all four of them sleeping next to each other would have plucked at my heart strings on any other day. Now it just fanned the flames a little more. 'There should be five,' a traitorous portion of my mind spoke up. 'If only you were faster, stronger, this never would have happened.'

I shook my head to clear it. This is no time for self-doubt Konoha needs it Hokage to be strong. The thought sends a twinge of pain from my missing arm but I ignore it. The wound will be healed in two days although there would be no way to hide the fact that it regrew. Too many people saw me without an arm tonight to make that feasible. My gaze rested on Shiro for a moment. Without him Kushina would have died and I would be maimed for life. Hell, without his warning this could have been much worse than it already was. I would have to give him something to show my appreciation later, but what can you give someone who you owe your families lives to?

There would be time to figure it out later though. Now I have a village to lead. Straightening I addressed the ANBU in the room. "I want two squads of ANBU in here at all times. The enemy that set loose the Kyuubi was able to use some type of space-time ninjutsu to travel vast distances and become intangible to attack. Do not let any of these people out of your sights. I will be in the Hokage's tower if people need me."

"Yes, Lord Hokage." I took one last look at my family before I tugged on one of the anchoring seals in the office teleporting me there instantly. I was already shouting out orders before the others that were there knew I had arrived.

"Bring me a preliminary casualty report. Tell the clan heads to deal with their clans but be ready for a meeting within the next four hours. Recall Jiraiya and Tsunade, if she tries to brush you off tell her that she will be declared a traitor and listed in the Bingo books. Someone get me Lord Danzo."

The room quickly emptied as the stationed ANBU leapt to carry out my orders. For the next few hours I was mired in a constant stream of reports about the state of the village, estimated casualties and ordering people about to best help the relief effort. At the 3 hour mark Danzo showed up wrapped in more bandages than usual and missing his right arm.

I couldn't help myself with the quip that came to my lips. "Look we're matching." I waved the stump of my right arm at him. He didn't look amused at all.

"I have no time for jokes right now Lord Hokage." My gaze sharpened as I looked at him.

"You are quite correct. Now is a time for business." Standing up from my chair I walked to look over the nighttime village. Off in the distance I could still see some fires burning. "The release of the Kyuubi was probably felt throughout all the lands and many eyes will be upon us looking for the first sign of weakness so they may strike." I turned back to him.

"I need your group to make sure they do not find it. For every scrap of information I want them to pay a sea of blood and find that the information was incorrect. To do this I will be freeing up most of your missions that you would normally take and making the jonin and ANBU work overtime. People must see this as, one might see a mosquito, an annoyance but one that is easily handled. Can your organization handle this?"

"The Root supports the Tree and we will not fail you in this." Good but still not enough.

"You've been leading this village from the shadows for a long time and I would appreciate your advice in the coming days on options for making Konoha look strong and then making it real. I would also have you look into the man behind this. A man wearing an orange mask, long black robes and a chain connecting his arms."

He bowed to me. "Of course. I will think of some plans and get back to you soon but I must leave soon if I'm to carry out your task."

"Go then. I have a meeting with the clan heads soon." He left and the backlog of things that needed to be taken care of came flooding into my office. I tried to sort them all as quickly as possible but in the end I had to leave a clone behind as I headed to the clan meeting.

The meeting room was filled with the various clan heads and they all rose and bowed to me as I entered the room. "Everyone sit, we do not have time for formalities right now." They sat when I did so at the head of the table. "What I want right now is the preliminary casualty reports from each of your clans and we will go from there."

The news wasn't good. Most of the clans were reporting anywhere from 10-20% casualties and some were even worse. The silver lining in this is that many of them were maimed and not dead. Shiro's jutsu was able to be performed by 3 other people besides him right now although they had a tendency to turn very small parts of people into stone still. It was better than nothing and the stone could be cut away then healed.

The new information settled into my mind and plans were made but I moved onto the next agenda I wanted to cover. "Thank you for getting those reports to me as quickly as you did. I ask that all available ninja work overtime in the coming days to make it seem as though nothing has happened to Konoha." I got nods from all the clan heads although I noticed some of them glancing at my missing arm. Those that didn't probably had an inkling of the new technique that was restoring our loyal ninjas to full health.

"I also wanted to inform you all of the danger the person who set the Kyuubi on us poses. He was able to infiltrate a heavily secured room through the use of a space-time ninjutsu and,' my voice hitches for a moment and when I spoke again there was an undeniable undercurrent of rage, 'killed my newborn son." The surrounding clan heads were silent in the face of my fury.

"He also killed the stationed ANBU guards and the late Hokage's wife. He seemed to be able to turn intangible at will although I did manage to hit him when I moved too fast for him to react. In addition he had some way to control the Kyuubi but I do not know how." A lie, I would have to speak with Fugaku after this meeting. "In the end I was able to force him to flee at a cost." There were more glances at my missing arm.

"I did not catch sight of this man's face as he wore an orange mask along with a long black robe with chains around his arms. If you encounter this man be extremely cautious and call for backup immediately." I gave them my warning about the man although as soon as I was healed and the village stable I planned to teleport to his side and kill him. The connection to my seal burned in the back of my mind and it took everything I had to ignore it for the moment.

"Lord Hokage what of the Kyuubi? What happened to it?" Hiashi Hyuga inquired.

I had to think for a moment before I answered. "The official story will be that our late Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, managed to defeat the Kyuubi. The unofficial story that will not leave this room is that he was able to reseal the Kyuubi into my child Mito at the cost of his life. There will be a funeral in three days time to honor his sacrifice. That is all I have planned for this meeting. Is there anything that needs to be addressed at this time?"

There were a few things but we managed to sort them out quickly enough. "I call this meeting to an end. Return to your duties." They stood and bowed but before Fugaku could leave I called out to him. "Lord Uchiha I require your presence to discuss additional duties the State Police will be required to carry out for a time." Curious looks were sent our way but no one inquired their unasked question of why this had not come up during the meeting.

"Of course Lord Hokage." Fugaku said as stoic as ever. What I plan to talk about would probably disrupt that though.

"Meet me in my office." We flickered to my office where my clone was still hard at work. I sent it outside my office to direct people then sealed the office as soon as it had left. Curiosity and caution briefly flickered on Fugaku's face as the seal went up.

I stared at him for several moments before I began to talk. "What we are about to discuss are things that relate to your clan. More specifically they relate to your bloodline." He stiffened noticeably at that. "I must say before we begin that as your friend and as the person who fought the masked man I know that your clan is not responsible for this attack. I have never felt his chakra within Konoha before even though it had a familiar quality to it that I could not place." I saw him relax fractionally although my next words reversed that.

"Regardless of that fact the man I fought had a sharingan in his right eye. It was like nothing I had seen before in a sharingan. It was red yet instead of the three tomoe it had three evenly spaced stretched triangles that curved around the top of the eye. What I'm asking is whether or not this was a mutation of your eye or simply a level that I have not seen before?"

Fugaku was silent although I could see that he did not want to be here at all. "Are you asking me to reveal clan secrets?"

"I am asking you to reveal anything you may know about the threat which attacked us just a few hours ago. Nothing you say will go beyond myself. I give you my word on the matter." I could see him waging a battle within himself before he came to an answer.

"There is indeed a more advanced state of the sharingan than what most people have seen." He paused for a moment. "What I'm about to tell you must not get out but seeing the death of someone extremely close can cause the sharingan to advance to what we call the Mangekyo sharingan. It is the belief of most of the clan that you must kill someone close to you in order for the eyes to advance. As clan head I know differently but have chosen to let the rumor stand in order to identify those who would seek power at any cost. The Mangekyo sharingan is much more powerful and has different abilities for each user but it comes at a cost. The user will slowly go blind with each use of the Mangekyo sharingan until darkness overcomes them."

I slowly nodded at that. "So would a non Uchiha be able to implant one of the sharingan and be able to advance them to the Mangekyo sharingan? I only ask because as I have stated before I have never felt this person's chakra within Konoha before." He considered the question for a while before answering slowly.

"I do not know. It may be possible but it has never happened before to my knowledge."

"Thank you for revealing these secrets to me. I swear not a word of what was spoken here will be revealed to anyone without your express approval as clan head. Now I do actually have some duties that I need the State Police to carry out so let's go over them." The next half hour was spent going over plans and contingencies with Fugaku before he was dismissed. My clone popped and I let the influx of new memories wash over me, taking in everything to commit it to memory. As soon as I did a fresh stream of people came flooding into the office and I shrugged off my exhaustion. I wouldn't rest until the crisis had been dealt with. With a roll of my shoulders I set to work.

~Interlude End~

As always a blinking pop up greeted me when I awoke but there was more than one box this time.

Ding! For sleeping in a bed HP and Chakra are set to 100%. All status effects have been removed.

Ding! Quest Survive! Complete.

You have survived the attack of the Kyuubi upon the village of Konoha. Congratulations.

Rewards: 10,000xp, Skill ID Create

Ding! LVL up

Learned Instant Dungeon Create (S+ Rank Active(10,000(7,500))) LVL 1 – 0%

Creates a dungeon that is separated from reality. Stronger monsters and dungeons are available at higher levels.

Possible Dungeons:

Empty

Zombies (not your everyday variety)

I wanted to sigh. This was one of the skills that I considered getting but in the end I didn't do it because I would be too tempted to use it. Everyone would have been all over me as soon as I returned. Hm, at least I have a good excuse this time.

"Shiro, you're awake!" I looked to my right to see Kushina sitting on a cot next to me as Mito and Karin slept behind her. Now that I could concentrate on not having to heal her I could feel how diminished she felt to my senses. She was no longer a glowing sun and had been dimmed to a roaring fire. I could still feel some of the Kyuubi's chakra floating within her but it seemed to be steadily vanishing as the source was no longer there.

Now I could feel the Kyuubi's chakra emanating from Mito instead. I expected it would happen when Minato ordered me to hand her over yet it did not fill me with joy that I had guessed correctly. In fact I wished I had guessed wrong and he merely needed her for something else. My eyes went back to Kushina as I finished my quick observation.

"Hello, Kushina-"

"Call me mom!" What? I blinked at that and she turned red but pushed onwards. "You always call me Kushina or sensei but Minato told me how you saved my life so I wanted to extend the offer." The next part was a rush of words but I was able to catch it. "Of course you don't have to if you don't want to but it would be nice if you did because you're like a son to me but you're so distant sometimes. It's always like you don't really connect with people and I know we talked about it before but I would still like you to call me it."

Huh, was I still so distant from others? Looking back I would have to say yes to that. I was just so focused on getting stronger that I put relationships to the side and I can't see that as a bad thing. I still tried to interact with people but I didn't put much effort into it. The Kyuubi appearing just showed me how weak I am compared to other things out there in this world and while I'm almost unbelievably strong for my age it isn't enough.

Still it wouldn't hurt to have more interactions with others and Kushina had been like a mom to me in this life. "Mom?" I tested the word to see how it felt to call her that. It felt strange to say that to someone who isn't my mother, whom I still had memories of, but at the same time it felt right to say it. The million watt smile and the bone crushing hug told me it was the right choice. I think I should hug her back in this situation. I could feel her stiffen slightly when I did so but then her hug got even more intense as impossible as it seemed.

The moment lasted until I felt Minato's chakra appear and I heard him clear his throat. "Minato, Shiro called me mom!" There was a certain amount of pride in her voice as she announced this. I couldn't see Minato's reaction as he was behind me but I could still hear him just fine.

"That's great honey, but I need to talk to Shiro right now." Ah, right his arm. Can't have the Hokage crippled for too long. I disentangled myself from my mom and didn't that feel weird calling her that in my head to turn to him. Minato looked tired. There was no question about it right now. Everything about him just screamed exhaustion at this point.

"Shiro, I know this might be sudden but are you able to heal my arm yet?"

"It's no problem at all. I feel fully ready for anything anytime that I wake up. Do you want to lay down on a cot first before I heal your arm?" I stood up from the cot as I was saying this. Minato's eyes closed for a moment and then he nodded.

"After you heal me I think I'll take a nap. The village is as stable as I can make it at the moment and I need one. After you are done healing me Danzo wishes to see you as well. I'm sorry to say this but then he'll give you a mission because we need every shinobi out in the field at the moment." He made his way over to the cot and laid down on it.

"It's fine. A shinobi's duty is to his village. When you are able I wish to discuss a technique I feel I am able to perform now." His eyes which were drifting closed shot open when I said that and focused on me. There was a certain amount of unease within them when he spoke.

"Is it anything like your healing?" I considered that for a moment. I didn't truly know the extent of my new skill but if I was able to create an empty ID and then move around to appear back in the world in a new location it could be extremely useful.

"I don't know yet I just know how to do it and haven't tested it out. I think it's similar to my pocket space." I heard groans from both Kushina and Minato.

"Great another space-time ninjutsu. Just what we need." He let out a huge sigh before fixing me with a glare. "We'll discuss this later but in the meantime do not try it yet." I gave him a nod and began the hand sign sequence for Angel's Breath. Finishing them I felt my chakra flow into Minato and watched his arm grow back. A slight gasp was the only reaction I heard from Kushina and the technique cut off as his arm finished regrowing. He let out a tired sounding, "Thank you," before succumbing to his exhaustion.

"So that's your S rank secret then." I felt Kushina pull me into another hug from behind. "Minato told me about it after I woke up but to see it is something entirely different. Thank you for healing both of us." She hugged me tighter after she was done speaking and I let her do so for a while enjoying the feeling. After a while I did have to reluctantly pull away. Duty calls.

"There is no need for thanks mom I would have done it anyways. Lord Danzo is expecting me though so I do have to leave. Once I am done we can talk about everything that happened in the last few days." I also wanted to give her more time to grieve for the child she lost. She hid it well but I could see how sad she was right now. I think the only reason she isn't crying is the fact that I'm awake and talking to her so she put up a façade.

I started pulling clothes and ninja supplies out of my inventory as I talked. By the time I had pulled out everything and put it on I had finished talking. She ruffled my hair and gave my one more smile before I placed the blank mask over my face. "Silly boy I wanted to thank you and we will definitely talk once you are through with your mission."

Turning away from her I called out to one of ANBU I vaguely felt around the room. "Could one of you please lead me out of this base?" One of them appeared in front of me and motioned me to follow. "Thank you." I was led through a winding passage of corridors before arriving outside. I gave the ANBU a nod and with a quick glance to verify where I was I took off.

Passing through the village I could see where vast swaths of the village were gone or buried in rubble. A veritable army of genin was picking through the rubble and sorting it while more competent ninja worked to repair the damages. While I saw quite a good deal of misery the vibe of the village was not one of despair but more optimistic than anything else. It was like the people living here had done a collective shrug and gotten on with their lives. Sure I could see some people grieving over lost loved ones but not as many as I would have thought.

The mystery was forgotten as I entered the base and made my way to Lord Danzo's office. I stood outside of it and saw the line of people waiting for him. Resolved to waiting I joined the line and waited for a good hour or so before I got to see Lord Danzo. As soon as I did I thought I knew the reason he had summoned me. Just like Minato his right arm was simply gone but I would not presume anything and simply knelt in front of his desk.

"Shiro, good you are awake. I have a mission for you to consider. It is not set in stone yet as I have not gotten the chance to talk with the Hokage about it but I do believe there is a good chance he will give the go on it." He gestured to an aid who dumped a depressingly large number of folders in front of me. "Konoha must appear strong and the greatest chance to do so is at the Chunin Exams." I didn't react but his words startled me. Regardless he continued on.

"While they are usually closed during war we have been in a cease fire with Kumo for over a year now which has been long enough that the Chunin Exams will continue next year. With that in mind the Chunin Exams will be starting up in a months time and Suna will be hosting them. Your mission will be too select what you deem viable teammates for the exam. You will not merely crush your opposition you will kill any and all challengers that stand before you." My eyes flickered down to the large pile of paper and then back up again the question of why I would be allowed to select my teammates clear.

He answered me. "Being a chunin is being more than just someone who can fight better than a genin. Being one means that genin will look to you for orders on the battlefield and you will be expected to know how to lead them to victory. This is a test to see if you are ready for that responsibility yet. If you this fail then no matter how well you do on the Exams you will not be made a chunin yet." I nod my question answered.

"May I know how long I have until I need to select my teammates? I would also know who the jonin sensei will be?" He answered immediately.

"One week from today I will need an answer and I do not know yet who will be your sensei. I will have to talk it over with the Hokage first. Now before you leave would you do me the favor of healing me?" There it is I thought.

"Of course Lord Danzo. Please remove the bandages so that they don't interfere with the new limb growing." He did so and I performed my skill letting my chakra bring him back to full health. He tested out his new arm and then slowly removed the bandages covering his right eye. Blinking rapidly at the new perspective he chuckled ruefully. "People don't appreciate depth perception until they no longer have it. Thank you Shiro you are dismissed." I made to leave but he stopped me.

"I do not know if you are aware but the funeral for the late Hokage is tomorrow at noon. All noncritical ninja are expected to be there tomorrow. I also need to remind you that those files are not to leave your sight at any time." I nodded then bowed and left, collecting the pile of papers as I went. Returning to the sanctuary of my room I sat down and began to read through all of the genin that I could take on as my teammates.

Several hours were spent hunched over reading before the files before I was interrupted by the sound of the 'door' opening. Only one person visited me here and sure enough I could sense her chakra as she came through the door. I turned towards her fully and greeted her. "Hello Saiko. I'm glad to see that you are well after the attack."

To be honest she didn't look well at all actually. I could see she was dead tired on her feet and her grunt of a reply settled the notion for me. Curiously I watched her walk past me then flop onto my bed where she immediately fell asleep. I felt I should feel indignation at the amount of dried blood she had just spread all over my bed but I couldn't muster the emotion for it. Instead I mentally debated going over and checking her over with my Mystical Palms skill to see if she was alright before I decided against it.

Startling a ninja is never a good idea as the one time it did it with Kushina she nearly put me through a tree on accident. I didn't want to test my luck with Saiko. So giving a shrug at her behavior I went back to reading all of the files. It took the rest of the night but I finished it and separated the files into three piles. The potentials, the undecided and the discarded pile.

One of the discarded pile's folder had contained the file of Nona, the genin whose friend I had killed and who I had dropped off at the Torture and Interrogation building. For several obvious reasons I wanted her nowhere near me while on a mission. To many chances for something to go wrong although I did give her a mental congratulations on surviving her experiences.

Next I went through the undecided pile and pruned it further until there was only a single pile left. This is where it gets difficult. Each person was reviewed further and mentally assigned where they would fit on a team with their current skillset. The pile got progressively smaller and smaller before Saiko's sudden change in breathing alerted me to her waking up.

"Hello again Saiko." I could see her momentarily freeze and then relax.

"Brat, what are you doing in my room?" Putting as much cheer into my voice as possible I responded.

"Actually this is my room sensei. You came in here last night and then collapsed on my bed getting blood everywhere." I put on a thoughtful expression. "Do you think I should charge you to have it cleaned?" A groan was her only response and she shifted upright until she was sitting on the bed.

"What's with the paperwork?" I gave it a distasteful glance before I answered.

"Lord Danzo has tasked me to put together a team of genin to take part in the Chunin Exams held in Suna. I am then expected to brutally kill all the opposition with my new team and win the Exams for Konoha to show our strength." I gave her a shrug in a 'what can you do?' kind of manner. "I feel honored by the trust he is putting in me for this mission and I will carry it out to the best of my ability."

She was oddly silent after that as the implications of what I had just said rattled around in her head. "You're taking the Chunin Exams when you're five years old." Her voice was incredibly flat.

"Technically I'll be six by the time it starts." I said nonchalantly. There was some grumbling before she answered.

"You know what I mean brat." I do know. While my ability to heal remains a tenuous secret for the moment this would put me on every ones radar as a prodigy. I don't know why Lord Danzo was suddenly doing this but I'm sure he had his reasons.

"I know." I simply said and we sat there in silence before I spoke again. "I'm not sure if you heard me or not last night but I'm glad to see that you were unhurt by the Kyuubi attack."

"Thank you. I was out of the village on a mission when it happened so I didn't even know it happened until I got back and saw all the destruction. Although I could feel its chakra even as far away as I was." She stood up from the bed and ruffled my head. "I knew you would be okay though." Stepping away from me she stretched.

"Now I do believe it's time for a funeral. I can't go but I do believe you do so go and get ready for it." Oh, right the funeral. I said my goodbyes to Saiko as she left and gathered all the files onto a scroll so I could seal them. Once that was done I set the scroll back into my inventory and proceeded to get ready. I had a funeral to attend to.

Note: I messed up on the chakra amount in the last chapter but I don't know how to change it without deleting the chapter and reposting it.

Age: 5 year - 11 months

Title: Rookie Root Shinobi

LVL: 19 - 12% to next LVL

HP: 1,230/1,230

Chakra: 34,648/34,648

Elemental Affinity: Water

STR: 130(156)

VIT: 123

END: 110

DEX: 140(154)

INT: 115(121.9)

WIS: 96(101.76)

LCK: 18

Points: 33

Money: 264,239

Instant Dungeon Create (S+ Rank Active(10,000(7,500))) LVL 1 – 0%

Creates a dungeon that is separated from reality. Stronger monsters and dungeons are available at higher levels.

Possible Dungeons:

Empty

Zombies (not your everyday variety)